{"id":667,"date":"2015-06-24T11:09:27","date_gmt":"2015-06-24T15:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madameshepard.com\/?p=667"},"modified":"2015-06-28T11:18:31","modified_gmt":"2015-06-28T15:18:31","slug":"4-steps-to-creating-a-proficiency-based-curriculum-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madameshepard.com\/?p=667","title":{"rendered":"4 Steps to Creating a Proficiency-Based Curriculum Map"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"map\"<\/a>While I was completing my French walkabout (pictures to follow!) a group of teachers from my district met to design a curriculum map in order to facilitate consistency across the district.\u00a0 While I wasn\u2019t able to participate in this work, here are the steps I\u2019d suggest for designing curriculum, based on my current understandings of proficiency-based teaching and curriculum-design processes.<\/p>\n

Step 1: Choose Unit Themes<\/strong><\/p>\n

I order to provide an overarching organization across levels and to avoid repeating topics, I would select the themes that would be addressed at each level.\u00a0 Because our school year is organized into four, nine-week quarters, I would choose about eight broad themes for each level.\u00a0 I would rely heavily on NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements for the targeted proficiency level when choosing these themes in order to ensure that they are appropriate for the students\u2019 proficiency level. Since the Novice-Mid Can-Do Benchmark (Presentational Speaking) states \u201cI can present information about myself and some other very familiar topics\u2026\u201d I would choose themes such as Introductions<\/em>, What I like\/dislike, My Family and Friends, Places I Go, My Activities, My School, Where I live, What I eat,<\/em> etc. for French I. \u00a0Because the Novice-High Can-Do Benchmark (Interpersonal Communication) says, \u201cI can usually handle short social interactions in everyday situations\u201d I would choose themes that are slightly outside the students\u2019 immediate environment such as Shopping for Groceries, Buying an Outfit, Visiting the Doctor, Going out with Friends, <\/em>etc. for French 2. I would also begin introducing cross-curricular content themes such as topics related to geography, history, and Francophone stories at this level, as these topics are clearly suggested by the Can-Do Statements. In French 3, where the targeted proficiency level is Intermediate Low, I would suggest a greater variety of cultural and cross-curricular themes such as Travel, Education, Environment, Art, History,<\/em> etc.\u00a0 These themes are consistent with the Intermediate Low Benchmark (Presentational Speaking) which states, \u201cI can present information on most familiar topics\u201d and will prepare the students for the AP curriculum in our level 4 classess. These suggestions are purposely broad in nature, and I would suggest phrasing them in a way that was consistent with whatever curriculum format or template is being used.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Step 2: Write Proficiency-Based Can-Do Statements for Each Theme<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having chosen the themes for each level, I would then write a Can-Do Statement for each communicative mode\/language skill.\u00a0 In some cases, one of the NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statement examples (those which are placed below the bold-print statements and next to a box) might already correspond to the chosen theme. In other cases, the language from the actual Can-Do could be modified to fit the unit theme. For example, in a French I unit on Likes\/Dislikes, I would suggest using the following Can-Do Statements as they are written:<\/p>\n